Be like this tree

Lao Tzu was
traveling with his disciples and they came to a forest where hundreds of woodcutters
were cutting the trees. The whole forest had been cut except for one big tree
with thousands of branches. It was so big that 10,000 persons could sit in its
shade.

Lao Tzu asked his
disciples to go and inquire why this tree had not been cut. They went and asked
the woodcutter and they said, "This tree is absolutely useless. You cannot
make anything out of it because every branch has so many knots in it - nothing
is straight. You cannot use it as fuel because the smoke is dangerous to the
eyes. This tree is absolutely useless, that's why we haven't cut it."

The disciples came
back and told Lao Tzu. He laughed said, "Be like this tree. If you are
useful you will be cut and you will become furniture in somebody's house. If
you are beautiful you will be sold in the market, you will become a commodity.
Be like this tree, absolutely useless, and then you will grow big and vast and
thousands of people will find shad under you."